Barrel-making machine



July 3, 1923. 1,4 0,459

J. L. WALKER BARREL MAKING MACHINE Filed oct. 21. 19 22 '7 Sheets-Sheet l xkR ,AVW

gnuwntoz July 3, 1923.

J; L. WALKER July 3, 1923. 1,460,459

J. L. WALKER BARREL MAKING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21', 1922 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 "MMW ifuly'3, 1923; 460,459

' J. L. WALKER BARREL MAKING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 July 3, 1923.

J. L. WALKER BARREL MAKING MACHINE 7 sheets sheet 7 Filed Oct. 21, 1922 Patented July 3, 1923.

UNITED STATES JOSEPH L- WALKER, 0 BATON ROUGE, tomsmna wassren n r0 IBEX-VD, B RREL- FATE-N Fries;

& HAMPER ('10., OF BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.

B ABREL-MAKiN Q- unonrnn.

'- Application filed'october 21f, 192a s no. 596,035,. I

To m it may concern." i Be it known that I, JOSEPH L. FWALKER a citizen of the United States, residing at BatonRoug'e, inthe parish. of EastBaton Rouge and State'of Lou-islana, have invented a new'and useful Barrel-Making Machine, of which the following is aj speci- I fication. a I

This invention relates to a machine for making drums or barrels of that type shown, for example, in'Patents No. 1,430,419 and No.1,430A2O issued to me on September 26,1922.

@ne of the objeets of the present'invention isQt provide. means whereby the hoop strips and the staves of the drum orbarrel can be properly assembled and fed toga former, there'b'eingmeans combined with the former for nailing or stitching the parts together. I 7

- Another object 'is to eombine with the former a meansffor properly positioning liner hoops and" a head within the formed drum or barrel body where they; can be fastened by means. provided for that purpose. I

Another object is to PIOVIClG' operating mechanism which will automatically be thrown out of gear when the assembled parts of the barrel are brought into operative position relative "to the nailing or stitching mechanism. t y

A further object is to provide means un-' der, thecontrol of the operator for coupling the nailing mechanism to the driving mechanism whereby the former, with the assembled parts thereon, will be voperated with av step by step movement during the. fastening operation. automatically stopping 'therota'tio-n of the former after it has'been'brought to its initial position and for reversing the rotation of the former upon the completion of the formation of the barrel. j

: With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as'the description preceeds the' invention eonsists of certain novel details of constru'ction'cand combinations of parts whiehw'ill be hereinafter more fully descrido'edv and pointed" out in the claims.

In the accompanying, drawings the pre ferred form of the -i,nvention has been a Figured? is a section Another object is to-provide means for two frame members l ,and2

In said drawings Figurev 4 is a section on line 4e4sFigui-e 1.

Figure 5 is a section on line 51 5 Figure 1'.

riage. L p V H s Figure 7 is an end elevation of a portion of thecarriagep W i p v FigureS is an enlarged view partly in "Figure 6 is a planview ot theieed pair;

side elevation and partly in section; or; one i end portion of the carriage.

Figure 9 is a perspective view ofonefof the stave engaging members" on: the earriage.

Figure 10, is a view partly in elevation andpa'rtly in section of a portion of the carriage, its track, and its adjustingroller. Figure 11 is a view partly in" section and partly in elevationof the track and carriage I and themeansfor adjusting the same,,said

'view' being at right angles to Figure 10.

Figure 12 is an enlarged section on line l2- 12 igure the cams thereon,

carriage a portion being brokenawayr;

ofthe head applying part of the apparatus, showing. a finger in normal position,

through a portion Fi'gurev 13 is a plan view of a portion of the clutch shifting gear, showing one of t 785 Figure 14 is an enlarged section through Figure 15 is a pl-an view of the assembled I p io ob ns. h d

. v Figure 16 is aside elevation showingthe ostaves'and hoop strips assembled with the Referring tot-he figures,by eharacters of reference, 1 2 and 3 designate upstanding frame members connected at, their-fllower' 1 ends by'frontand back longitudinal beams 4 and also by a ,beamfi fastened. onbraekets 6 extending forwardly from, the. upper porn o th ftmt members. The frame members 1 and "2 'are'conneeted by a bar 7 which bridges the space between them and has downwardly extending to the respective, frame members,

shaft 9 of the barrel former, This shaft extends across the space between the" frame its .ends Siastened In these is journaled-fthe} members 2 and 3 and has secured to it substantially semi-circular segmental sections formed with collars 11 extending around the shaft. To each section 10 is connected an arcuate section 12 by means of a hinge indicated generally at 13. Each section 12 has a recess 14 in its periphery for the reception of a clamping plate 15 extending from a shank 16. The shank is mounted in a guide 17 carried by the section 12 and said shank is connected by a stem 18 to a bracket 19 fastened to collar 11. A spring 20 is mounted on stem 18 and thrusts against the guide 17 so as to hold the section 12 nor mally pressed outwardly with the plate 15 seated in recess 14.

A rod 21 is extended transversely through the sections 10 and has an arm 22 at one end whereby it can be rotated readily by the operator. Secured to the rod or shaft 21 close to each of the sections 10 is an eccentric 23 on which is mounted a loop 24 provided at one end of a rod 25. The rod is pivotally connected at 26 to the free end portion of the section 12 adjacent thereto. Thus it will be seen that by rotating the rod or shaft 21 in one direction all of the eccentricswill simultaneously shift the rods so as to swing the sections 12 away from the sections 10, thus to expand the barrel former made up of the sections and at the same time seat the clamping plates 15 within the recesses 14. By rotating the shaft or rod 21 in the opposite direction the sections 12 will be pulled inwardly toward the sections 10,

thus withdrawing from the clamping plates 15 and contracting the barrel former.

The frame member 3 has an unobstructed opening 27 therein the diameter of which is slightly greater than the diameter of the barrel to be formed. The former sections 10 and 12 nearest this frame member 3 are formed in their outer edges or peripheries with grooves 28 adapted to-receive a liner hoop as hereinafter pointed out. The clamping plate 15 carried by this portion of the former is so shaped as to extend laterally from its shank 16 for the purpose of engaging a hoop strip located to one side of the shank. (See Figure 14).

Brackets 29 are extended rearwardly from the frame members 2 and 3 and support a rod 30 on which are mounted blocks 30 carrying presser rollers 31 for engaging the hoop strips of a barrel while being bent about the former. These presser rollers and the means for mounting them do not, in themselves, constitute any part of the present invention but are already disclosed in my Patent 1,437,575. 1

Connecting the members 2 and 3 above the presser rolls 31 is a bar 32 on which are mounted separate nailing tools indicated generally at 33 and which can be of any well known magazine type. One of these tools is provided for each hoop strip of the barrel to be formed and all of the nailing tools are adapted to be actuated simultaneously by eccentrics 34 mounted on an operatingshaft 35. As the nailing tools can be of any standard make it is not deemed necessary to illustrate them in detail.

Mounted in the frame members 2 and 3 are bearings 36 yieldingly supported by springs 37 and engaging a shaft 38 adapted to be rotated in any suitable manner, as .by means of a crank arm 39. This shaft is provided, between its ends, with an eccentric portion 40 adapted to support angle rails 41 which constitute the track of a feed carriage.

These rails are pivotally supported near their outer or front endsjas shown at 42 and extend over the eccentric portion 40 and through and beyond the space between the frame members 2 and 3.

Mounted on and concentric with the eccentric portion of the shaft 38 is a roller 43. This roller is located substantially in vertical alignment with the shaft 9 and projects between the rails 41. It is adapted to engage and support longitudinal strips 44 mounted on and secured adjustably to end strips 45. These end strips have longitudinal slots 46 for the reception of bolts 47 used for fastening the strips together. Side strips 48, are fixedly secured to the ends of the strips 45 and .all of the strips cooperate to form the bodyof a feed-carriage. Rollers 49 are connected to and support the ends of the strips 45 and are adapted to travel along the angle rails 41 and past the ends of the eccentrically mounted roller 43.

Certain of the strips 44 constitute stave supports and have strips, preferably of wood, secured longitudinally thereon as shown at 50. On each of these strips is secured a longitudinal seriesofstave holders. Each holder, as shown in Figure 9, includes an attaching base .51, and upwardly .and forwardly inclined arm 52, .a

tongue 53 extending downwardly from the upper end of the arm, and a lug 54 struck upwardly from the tongue. I These stave holding devices are spaced apart distances slightly less than the width of the staves so that, as shown'in the drawings the beveled lower side" of each stave S will rest upon the tongues 53 of two corresponding supports while the opposite edge of the stave will rest on two of the lugs 54 so as to lap the supported edge of the next adjoining stave. All of the staves are extended transverselv of the carriage and across all of the strips 44. r

Those strips 44 not provided with stave engaging or holding devices have blocks 55 thereon for supporting longitudinally channeled strips56 parallelwith the strips 50 and each adapted to hold a hoopv strip I carriage are, arranged with one end sprojeoting beyond the staves and toward-the rearv end ofthe carriage while the other end of each hoop strip terminates inwardly from the front edge of the front or first stave onthe carriage. These relative positions of the tstaves and strips have been shown in Figure 15, which is a view looking down on the assembled staves and hoops approximately as they appear when on ,the carriage.

Mounted on the rear orouter end of the carriage close to the ends of the channeled strips 56 are standards 57 on which are pivotally mounted/clamping levers 58 having springs 59 for forcing the, levers downwardly onto the adj oining: ends of the hoop strips H. A transverse tripping rod 60 connects the frame members 2 "and *3 and is in the path of the levers.58 so that when the carriage reaches the upperlimit of its movement the levers will'come againstrod 60 and be shifted so as to releasethe hoop strips engaged therebyr,

It is to be understood that the eccentric 40 supports the rails 41 and the roller 43 supports the carriage strips 44. Thus when shaft 38 is rotated therailstl and the carriage will be raised or loweredgin unison relative to the shaft 9, so as tocause the hoop strips to be properly fed to the former. Journaled in the frame members 1 and 2 is the main drive shaft 61 adapted to be driven by a belt pulley 62 and having gears 63' and 6 1 secured theretosoas to rotate therewith. Gear-64 meshes with a gear 65loosely mounted on ,the shaft 35 of the nailing tools. This gear has a clutch member 66. and another clutch member 67 is feathered on shaft 35 and isadapted, to

be shifted by a hand lever 68 fulcrumed on a bracket 69 extendingfrom the frame member-2. and rotates withshaft 35 and is adapted Y to transmit motion through arod 71 to a crank arm 72 having a pawl73 pivotally connected to it. A handle 74 extends from' the pawl sothat itcan be easily movedinto or out of engagementwith a ratchet wheel 75 secured to one end of'the shaft 9. Thus it will be seen that when shaft 35 is rotating the nailing tools 33 will be operated and' the pawl 73- will beshifted-to rotate the ratchet wheel 75, shaft 9, and the barrel former with a step-by step movement. In other words the parts are so' timed that after each nailing operation thebarrel being formed'will begiven a slightturn so as to bring it into position to receive the I next set of nails to be driven thereinto.

When lever 68 is located as shown in Figure l-the nailing apparatus and the ratchet wheel will not operate but by shifting the lever to the right the clutch members 67 An eccentric 70 is secured to and 66 will bebrought together and gear o 65 l be coupled to shaft 35;

The gear 63 meshes with a gear 76 secured I to ashaft 77 and anothergear 78 is secured to shaft '77 land meshes with a gear- 79 secured tow-a shaft 80. A clutch member-81 A is feathered on shaft 77 and anotherpolutch' 'member' 82 is feathered on shaft These two shafts are journaled in a bearingfmember83 supported by the bar 7 and an arm:

84; is extended between the clutchmembers 81 and 82. A lever 85 is fulcrumed on the arm 84 and is connectedtothe clutch mem bers81and-82. I Supported by the 'bar'7' isaibearing memand 80 provided with gears 89- and 90. .Clutch'members 91 and 92 rotatew-ith the v ber86 inwhichare journaled ,theshafts77 i.

gears-and are supported for engagement-by the clutc'hmembers 81 and 82 respectively. A large gear 93 is secured to the'ishafti9 and meshes with both of, thei'gearsl89 and 90. It will be obvious that when the clutch members 81 and 91v are in. engagement with each other motion will be transmitted to the.

gear 93 and shaft 9 through gear 89. -When the clutch members, 82 and 92 are in en-v gagement with eaoh'other motioniwillbe transmitted to gear 93 in the opposite direcr v, I i- The gear 93 isprovidedin each side, close I lto its periphery, with anangulargroove 94 and 95 respectively. The inner wall of each groove isinclined inwardly toward the axis Y too r I of rotationj Each groove is'adapted to re ceive an angular lip 96 projectingfromthe inner edge portion of a cam block97 so that the block is thus supported-.at therside of the gear. The block has an angular arm 98 -I extending inwardly back ,of' an angular shoulder 99 formedon the gear. A set-screw 100 extends through arm-98 and engages the shouldersoas to hold the cam-block 97;

to thevgear. This :onstruction is illustrated inFigure 12. The camb o'ck i fe y ,V, triangular as shown in Figure; 13;

' Supported by the framemembers 1 is a guide rod101 on which is mounted a slide 102. The lever. 85 is extended over I this slide and pivotally mounted on the lever Q handle 104 having a stud 105 pro- 'jecting-from one end. thereof. This stud extends into an eyel06 provided at the up-;

at 103 is a per end of a, pin-107 slidable within a guide 1 108 extending from the slide102. A spring- 109 'is interposed between lever 851and handle 104' and serves to hold the pm 107 normally a ressed downwardly at [one side of gear-x93 as; shown in Figures 5 andflQ. A" finger: 7110 is adjusta'loly secured to I-the slide 102 and projects downwardlyadjacent; 130

the other side: of gear 93 It will be ap- &

parent that when lever 85 is swung in one direction the pin 107 will be brought into the path of the cam blockl 97 on one side of gear 93 and when the lever is swung in the opposite direction the finger 110 will be brought into the path of the other cam block 97.

Hingedly connected to the frame member 3 as at 111 in Figure 1 is a cross head 112 adapted to extend across the opening 2'7 in said member and to enter between lugs 113 and to be engaged by a gravity latch 114; or other suitable fastening device. The cross head 112 has a central bearing 115 in which is secured and journaled a stud 116 projecting from the center of a head 117. This head has a peripheral groove 118 corresponding with the groove 28 in the end members 10 and 12. Guides 119 are provided at the periphery of the head and in these guides are mounted slidable holding fingers 1.20. The fingers are connected to springs 121 which serve to hold the fingers normally projected across the outer open side ofthe groove 118 and beyond the face of the head 117. Guide braclrets'122 are secured on the outer face of the head 117 and are slidably engaged by a cam ring 123 extending between the head 117 and the springs 121. By rotating this ring by means of a handle 124 or the like the springs 121 can be pressed outwardly'away from the head 1.17 so as to withdraw the fingers 120 from their normal positions to the positions shown in Figure 14:. The normal position of one of the fingers has been illustrated in Figure 17.

The head of a barrel has been indicated at A and it will be noted that the head engaging faces of the members 10 and 12 in Figare 14 and of the head 11'? are provided with small projections or teeth 125 adapted to bite into the head A. Q

In using this apparatus the shaft 21 is first rotated so as to draw together the mem bers 10 and 12 of the barrel former. The hoop strips H are properly arranged on the channeled strips 56 with their free ends pro jecting rearwardly and the staves are placed in properly lapped relation on the holders 51-53. Levers 58 are placed in engagement with the back ends of the hoop strips and shaft 38 is rotated so that when the carriage is moved upwardly along the inclined track the front ends of the hoop strips will be brought to position within the recesses 14. Shaft 21 is then rotated to shift the members 12 of the formers outwardly to clamp the ends of the hoop strips against the plates 15, and to grip the front edge of the first stave.

A barrel head of proper dimensions is next placed between the'projecting fingers 120 on head 117 so that the head will be properly supported by and between the fin gers. A liner hoop L is also placed in the groove 118 back of the engaged barrel head A. Another'liner hoop L is placed in the groove 28.

Head 117 is now swung to 100- v sition so that cross head 112 can be fastened members 81 and 91. This will cause the shaft 9 and the barrel former members to rotate so as to gradually wrap or bend the hoop strips and the staves upon the members 10 and 12. As the clamping plates 15 pull on the hoop strips H said strips will in turn pull upon the carriage and cause the staves to be pressed tightly against the members 10 and 12 by the hoop strips.

The parts are so timed that when the advancing edge portion of the first stave arrives in position in line with the nailing tools one of the cam blocks 97 on gear 93 will come against pin 107 and shift it laterally so as to return lever 85 and the clutch member 81 to neutral position. Thus the feeding of the stock will stop automatically. The operator now shifts lever 68 so as to couple gear65 to shaft 35. Thus the nailing tools will be operated and the barrel forming members 10 and 12 with their shaft 9 will be rotated intermittently as before explained. This will result in the nailing together of the hoop members and the staves and by mounting two nailing tools at the bottom end of the barrel being formed the nails will not only secure the end hoop strips to the staves but will also enter the liner hoops L and 'L' and fasten them to the staves. The nailing operation will continue until the hoop strips have been passed throughout their lengths under the nailing tools at which time the further operation of the machine can be stopped by returning lever 68 to its normal position. The operator can now shift lever 85 so as to couple clutch members 82 and 92 whereupon the rotation of shaft 9 will be reversed. The parts are so timed that when the clamping plates 15 arrive at their normal positions or points of starting one of the cam blocks 97 will come against the finger 110 and shift lever 85 to its neutral position, thus stopping the further rotation of the shaft 9. Head 117 can be swung away from the formed barrel, leaving the barrel head A in osition between the liner hoops L and L's. haft 21 is then rotated to contract the barrel former. This will allow the completed barrel to be withdrawn from the former through opening 27 in; frame member 3. The apparatus is now readyto repeat the operation before described.

It might be stated that when. thecarriage is drawn to the upper limit of its'movement by the hoop strips'being wrapped about the former, lever 58 will come against rod 60'so as to releasethecarriage and allow itto gravitate back to its normal position ready to be again supplied withstock. By, having the shiftable pin 107 the lever 85- can be released from its actuating cam block '97 should it be desired to continue the rotation of the barrel former in the direction from; which it has started. The pawl 73 is to be disengaged from the'ratchet wheel by handle '74. whenever the, shaft 9 is driven through the gears 89 or 90.

What is claimed is: i .1 1 In a'barrel making machine aformer,

a carriage, means cooperating with the, former for gripping one end of a hoopstrip,

- means on the carriagefor gripping the other end of the-hoop strip, means for rotating the former, to wrap the hoop ,strip thereon and actuate the carriage, and means for auto matically releasing the hoop strip from the carriage.

2. In a barrel making machine a former, 5

a track leading to the former, a carriage supported by the track, separate means cooperating withthe former and carriagefor gripping opposite ends, respectively of the stock on the carriage,,means for rotating the formerto pull through the, stock uponthe. carriage and move the carriage upon the track, and means for automatically releasing the stock from the carriage, said carriage being movable to its initial position.

3. In a barrel making machine a former,

a carriage adjacent thereto, and means upon the carriage forengaging one edge of each of a succession of staves'and forsupporting the other edge of anadjacent stave .above the first mentioned edge. n

4. In a barrelmaking machine a former,

a carriage for feeding stock thereto,smeanson the carriage for supporting hoop strips longitudinally upon the carriage, and means cooperating with the former and carriage theformerand carriage. respectively. 6. In'abarrel making machine a former, a carriage, means cooperating with the forfor attaching the endso-f each hoop strip to mer. and carriage for engaging the respective ends of a hoop strip,'means on the carriage for; engaging one edge 'ofeach of asucces-u sion of staVes and .for supporting the other edge of. an-adjacentpstave above the first mentioned edge, said staves beingsupported transversely above the hoop strips-and upon.

the carriage, and means for actuating the formerv=toywrapthe hoop strip upon the formerand bind the staves between the strip andthewformer. f

7. In'a barrel'making machine thecoinbination with aformer .and a carriage of means, cooperating with the former andfcarriage forengag ng opposite :ends respectively of a hoop strip, means on the carriage for engaging one edge of each oft-a successlon of staves' and for supporting the other edge of an adjacent stave above the first; mentioned edge, said staves being supported transversely above the hoop strip, means for rotating the former ;;intermittently to pull through the. hoop strip upon thecarriage-to' I feed the staves betwen the hoop strip'and,

the vformer -and means for automatically fastening together the hoop strip and stares during .the-pauses-in themovement 10f :the v former.

. 8. In abarrel makingmachinethe coin-1' ,bination with a -fo-rmer means for feeding stockithereto, and means. cooperating with thelformer for gripping-the stock, 'of drive mechanism including clutchmembers, means" for shifting the clutch members to operate the forinerin either direction, and means ac-v tuatedby saidmechanism for automatically shifting the clutch members tation of the former-in either direction at predetermined points. I

[9. In a barrel makingmachine; the com} binatl-on wlth a former, 'of' drive mechanism,

including clutch-members, means for shifting the olutch membersjjto rotate the former ineither direction, and means, actuated by. said drive mechanism for-stopping the ro-v tation? of the former when it reaches apredetermined. point.- I

to stop the ro- .10. 1m barrel makingumachinethe com;

bination with a former, of drive mechanism including clutch members, means for. shift ing the clutch members to rotate the former in either direction, and means actuatedby said drive mechanism forstopping the rotation of the former when it reaches a predetermined point, "said means including a gear, cam blocks-adjustable annularly upon the gear, a clutchshifting lever, and separate means movable with the lever for actuation by the respective blocks. I

11. In a barrel making machine the combination with a'former, ofdrive mechanism including clutch members, a lever for shifting the clutch members to rotate the former in either direction, and means actuated by said mechanism for stopping the rotation of the former when it reaches a predetermined point, said means including a gear, cam blocks adjustable annularly upon opposite sidesof the gear, and separate means movable with the lever and extending to opposite sides of the gear for actuation by the respective cam blocks. I

12. In a barrel making machine the combination with a former, of drive mechanism including clutch members, a lever for shift ing the clutch members to rotate the former in either direction, and means actuated by said mechanism for stopping the rotation of the former when it reaches a predetermined point, said means including a gear, cam blocks adjustable annularly upon opposite sides of the gear,a slide extending aCrosS the gear, a finger adjustable on the slide for engagement by one of the cam blocks, a pin movable in the slide for engagement by the other cam block, and means on the lever for disengaging the pin from its cam block.

13. In a barrel making machine the combination with a former. having grooved sections for engagement with a liner hoop, of a shiftable cross head, a head mounted for rotation thereon and having means toengage a liner hoop, means for holding a barrel head to the rotatable head, means for fastening the cross head in position to clamp a barrel head between the former and the rotatable head, means for feeding stock to the former, means for intermittently rotating the former to bend the stock there around, and means operating during pauses in the rotation of the former for nailing the stock together and to the liner hoops.

14. In a barrel making machine the combination with a former having sections for engagement with a liner hoop, of a head mounted for rotation adapted to support a liner hoop, means for clamping a barrel head between the rotatable head and said sections, the heads and sections being revoluble together, means for intermittently rotating the former and heads, means for feeding stock to the former to surround the former, and means for nailing through the stock and into the liner hoops during pauses in the rotation of the former.

15. In a barrel making machine the combination with a former and means for feeding stock thereto, of-a shiftable cross head, a head mounted for rotation on the cross head, means slidably mounted on the rotatable head for engaging and supporting a barrel head, and means movably mounted on the rotatable head for simultaneously shifting the slidable means to release an engaged barrel head.

16. In a barrel making machine the combi nation with a former mounted for rotation, of means for clamping a barrel head thereto, including a rotatable head, means slidably engaging the rotatable head for engaging and supporting a barrel head, means for securing the rotatable head in position to clamp an engaged barrel head against the former, a cam ring, and means operated by the cam ring for disengaging the slidable means from the barrel head.

17. In a barrel making machine the combination with a former having means to engage a liner hoop, of a rotatable head having means to engage a liner hoop, means for supporting the rotatable head in position to clamp a barrel head against the former and between said liner hoops.

18. In a barrel making machine the combination with a-formerhaving means to engage a liner hoop, of a rotatable head having means to'engage a liner hoop, means for'supporting the rotatable head in position to clamp a barrel head against the former,

means cooperating with the former for gripping one end of a hoop str1p,'means for intermittently rotating the former to wrap the hoop strip therearo-und to bind'staves upon the former, and means for nailing through the hoop strip and staves and into the liner hoops during pauses in the movement of the former.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiiixed my signature in the presence of'two witnesses.

JOSEPH L. WALKER.

Witnesses: I Y

' HERBERT D. Lawson,

I. G. SIMrsoN. 

